Bale: Ronaldo makes life easy for me

Gareth Bale credits Real Madrid teammate Cristiano Ronaldo with helping him belatedly settle at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The Wales international scored on his first appearance for Los Blancos following his world-record move from Tottenham this summer, but his first couple of months in Spain were blighted by fitness problems.

However, Bale has now netted three goals and five assists in his last four games in all competitions and the 24-year-old says that the Ronaldo has played a key role in allowing him to find his best form by taking on the burden of carrying Madrid while he was trying to find his feet.

“When you play with the best player in the world, it does make life easier,” the former Spurs star told the Football Association of Wales’ YouTube channel. “And to be playing with him and the rest of the team is massive for me and I’m enjoying every minute of it.

“It was obviously a little bit of a slow start, with not having a preseason and getting a few nagging injuries, but that’s out of the way now and I feel I’ve settled in very well. Everybody at the club has been very helpful, the players have been great with me. I’m starting to play my football on the pitch now and enjoying the whole of the life in Madrid.”

As Bale begins to adjust to life in La Liga, he has started taking Spanish lessons in order to aid his assimilation but he joked that it could be some time before he achieves fluency.

“It’s coming along," he explained. "I’m learning slowly. The main thing is to get my head down into my football first and all the rest will come after.

“I’ve started a few lessons and learning a few words - but I think it’s going to take a bit of time.”